Conventional power sources such as natural gas and oil are being rapidly depleted throughout the world. Alternative sources such as natural fluid streams or currents are presently under investigation since such sources are readily available and inexhaustible.
Flowing water has from five to six times as much capacity for electrical generation as does wind power, not including the twenty-four hour steady nature of the water-derived generation. Wind farms pay taxes on considerable tracts of land, have extensive buried cable requirements on site and substantial cable runs to a grid connection. Their generators are spaced at large intervals to provide undisturbed wind streams and blade clearance. They suffer from the on and off nature of wind, high service costs associated with “off the ground” equipment and various environmental and aesthetic problems, all of which reduce cost effectiveness.
The prior art discusses many devices and methods for converting the energy contained in natural fluid streams, such as the wind and the tides, into usable electric power. Turbines driven by the flow of trapped tidal waters are an example of turning energy in a natural fluid stream into electric power. Prior attempts to convert such energy have usually failed for a number of reasons. The cost of the apparatus to convert the energy stored in a natural flowing stream has typically been prohibitive. Further, tidal warming wind motion is unpredictable in nature and an apparatus must be provided to restore energy during peak periods of wave and wind activity for later use.
There are several apparatuses and methods that attempt to harness energy from water current flow; however, all of these prior art have significant differences, limitations or drawbacks.